For all of my readers out there who have made this blog worth my while to write, I'd like to let you know that I am switching URL's.  My current one is http://demboysfromthebronx.mlblogs.com.  My new one is below.

http://dillonm.mlblogs.com

This blog is called "Living the Baseball Life."  So if you see a link to it on the MLBlogs home page you'll know that's where I'm at. 

I am done righting only about the Yankees (and how great they are).  I will now start to write about everything around the baseball community.  I will be covering the top stories from the MLB, or anything baseball.  From the MLB, the MiLB, to little league, to wiffle ball with my friends in my backyard.  You never know what is going to come out on this new blog.  I wanted to let all of you know that this blog is going to bigger and better.  I will cover more than just the Yankees and I hope everyone will continue to read.  Please visit my new blog.  I hate having my hit counter so low.  I have worked hard here to get this one really high.  So it would be great if all of you readers out there continue to make it worth my while to write this new blog.  Thanks everyone.

-Dillon

For all of my readers out there who have made this blog worth my while to write, I'd like to let you know that I am switching URL's.  My current one is http://demboysfromthebronx.mlblogs.com.  My new one is below.

http://dillonm.mlblogs.com

This blog is called "Living the Baseball Life."  So if you see a link to it on the MLBlogs home page you'll know that's where I'm at. 

I am done righting only about the Yankees (and how great they are).  I will now start to write about everything around the baseball community.  I will be covering the top stories from the MLB, or anything baseball.  From the MLB, the MiLB, to little league, to wiffle ball with my friends in my backyard.  You never know what is going to come out on this new blog.  I wanted to let all of you know that this blog is going to bigger and better.  I will cover more than just the Yankees and I hope everyone will continue to read.  Please visit my new blog.  I hate having my hit counter so low.  I have worked hard here to get this one really high.  So it would be great if all of you readers out there continue to make it worth my while to write this new blog.  Thanks everyone.

-Dillon

The Yanks now have the top record in all of the American League.  If this is not a confidence booster for the Yanks, I don't know what is.  The Yanks have earned this record with their STELLAR play of late.  After the very slow start to the season, in which we were as low as fourth place in the AL East, we have turned our season around immensely.  A huge part of this has been the return of A-Rod. 

A-Rod has been hitting a lot of homers since coming back, including the first pitch he saw in his first game back that he cranked to left in Baltimore.  Most of his hits this year have been homers but he has started to inch that batting average up game after game.  Now, although A-Rod's all around play hasn't been there, his return has helped one of our other big stars that had been very quiet.  Mark Teixeira.  Since A-Rod has come back, Tex has blown up on offense.  His defensive play has been there all year.  But now his offense is here too and he is just that much better. 

The Yanks have first place in the AL East still but you can never get a big enough lead when you have the Red Sox and Blue Jays in your division.  Right now, the lead is one game.  Not a lot.  But definitely something.  If we continue to play the way we have of late, we should be fine. 

Last night, the Yankees played the Rangers in the first of a three game series.  The Yanks prevailed coming off the field with the 12-3 win.  It was an offensive explosion, especially in the fourth when we scored seven runs.  The inning included many big at-bats from the Yankee hitters and the balls were just jumping off their bats.  Hideki Matsui's three run blast was the high point in the Yankees' fourth inning supernova.  His offense has been lacking so far this season.  Maybe it's because of injury, or maybe he has just been in a slump.  His offense was there yesterday for sure.  After the fourth inning, the lead for the Yanks was 9-3. 

The Yanks also scored two in the second inning and three in the sixth.  The three runs in the sixth were on a Jorge Posada three run blast.  The offensive game was great and everyone contributed. 

The pitching was also fantastic.  AJ Burnett took the bump with his 3-2 record.  And he had it going on last night.  An eight strikeout performance ended after seven innings of work.  In his seven inning effort, Burnett gave up eight hits, one a homer, three runs, and also walked one guy.  An overall good performance.  Burnett didn't really have any huge problems.  His only tough inning was the third where the Rangers scored all three of their runs.  Not bad. 

Brett Tomko and Jose Veras came in after Burnett came out and each pitched perfect innings.  Tomko had a strikeout in his one inning effort.  The 'pen actually pitched pretty well and that pleased me immensely.  It was great to see, especially Veras, pitch well.  I don't think you can get any better than pitching one inning, not giving up a hit or a walk or any runs.  They both were great.

Here are my top performers from yesterday's game.

• Derek Jeter: 3-4, 1 run
• Johnny Damon: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 run, 1 walk
• Alex Rodriguez: 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 runs, 1 walk
• Robinson Cano: 2-5, 1 RBI, 2 runs
• Jorge Posada: 3-5, 4 RBI, 2 runs, 1 HR
• Hideki Matsui: 2-5, 3 RBI, 2 runs, 1 HR
• AJ Burnett: 7 innings, 8 K's, 3 ER, 8 hits, 1 walk
• Brett Tomko: 1 inning, 1 K, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 ER
• I can't believe I'm saying this but, Jose Veras: 1 inning, 0 K's, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 ER

Now here's another interesting topic sprouting from yesterday's game.  The two plunkings of Mark Teixeira.  Vincente Padilla was the culpret of both and they both came in the fourth inning.  The first one came and went with Tex taking first and nothing else happening.  But when the second one happened, there was definitely a lot of sparks coming from all over the place.  There was a ton coming from the stands.  A chorus of Bronx boos were pouring out of the stands on a non-stop flight to Padilla's ears.  Tex had some choice words for Padilla as he threw the bat to the ground.  Jarod Saltalamacchia and the home plate umpire had to get between Tex and Padilla as he walked down to first.  Joe Girardi also came out of the dugout to try and cool Tex down.  Padilla is now a member of the Yankee fans' "People to Hate" list.  Good luck Padilla..... yeah right, I hate you Padilla.  You suck!

So the game ended and the Yanks got the win. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this.  The Yanks broke the record for errorless games in a row in the series finale with the Indians.  Well, that record is now set, but the record is only a game longer than it had been.  On an attempt to throw out a Ranger baserunner, Jorge Posada threw the ball into center field and the errorless streak was gone.  Well, it was a good run fellas.  Get 'em next time.  

We've still got two games with the powerful Ranger offense.  The first game blowout was surely a shock to all but you can never count them out.  The loss of Josh Hamilton will be huge for their team, but they still have a very good offense.  That guy Nelson Cruz has been tearing it up.  He hit another shot yesterday off Burnett.  Hopefully we can stop him and silence his bat. 

We send Andy Pettitte to the mound tonight and we're all hoping he can get the job done against Scott Feldman.  Let's get it done. 

Now, speaking of All-Stars, All Star weekend is coming up closer and closer every day and the debate on who should be sent to St. Louis this year continues to rage on.  Here are my picks for both the AL and NL.

AL

P: Roy Halladay

1B: Mark Teixeira

2B: Ian Kinsler

3B: Evan Longoria

SS: Derek Jeter

LF: Jason Bay

CF: Curtis Granderson

RF: Ichiro Suzuki

C: Joe Mauer

NL

P: Johan Santana

1B: Albert Pujols

2B: Chase Utley

3B: Ryan Zimmerman

SS: Hanley Ramirez

LF: Ryan Braun

CF: Raul Ibanez

RF: Adam Dunn

Go Yanks!

-Dillon

Well, I said it.  Joba layed out.  And I mean layed out.  Usually when you lay out for a ball, you catch it before you hit the ground again.  But Joba, well, I don't think he knows the concept of laying out for a ball.  But you can't blame him.  He's a pitcher, not a fielder.  You do have to give him props for his athletic play, though.  And after all the anxiety of the play was gone, after he had thrown the ball to Jeter who was standing on second to trun the double play, he still had his fist pump going.  Way to go Joba.  Here's the link to the video, because I have yet to figure out how to get a video on this blog.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4820689&c_id=nyy

That was just one of the exciting parts of the game.  Definitely the best play of the game.  Overall, the game was excellent.  The Yanks came away with the 5-2 win.  Joba got the win, after a STELLAR eight inning, five strikeout performance, and the Yankee offense was able to get to the young Jeremy Sowers, who took the bump for the Tribe.  Here's the breakdown.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I was able to watch the game again last night because it was on ESPN's Monday Night Baseball.

Breakdown

Joba took the bump for the Yanks agaisnt Jeremy Sowers.  Sowers went five innings giving up three hits, five walks, and only one run.  The night ended well for Sowers who left the game in the sixth after walking Jeter, Swisher, and Teixeira back to back to back.  It was a tough way to leave the game but Sowers was definitely losing his stuff.  Not a bad outing though.  More on the sixth inning later. 

The story of the game was surely Joba Chamberlain's performance.  He went three innings of perfection, and almost went four, but Victor Martinez spoiled the perfect game with a blast to right center.  It was a no doubter after it left the bat.  Tough luck, but it only tied the game.  Joba would bounce back after after giving up a bunt single to Shin Soo Choo, a stolen base from Choo, and a walk to Jhonny Peralta.  Oooh that Jhonny Peralta really gets on my nerves.  But he didn't go anywhere after walking so that made me happy.  Joba got out of the inning by striking out Mark DeRosa on three straight pitches. 

Let me make note that through the first four innings, Joba's breaking ball was absolutely deadly.  It was breaking with perfect accuracy, only missing a couple times.  He used the breaking ball on first pitches, strike out counts, and even with three strikes.  It was nasty. 

Joba went the rest of the game with the nasty curveball still working.  He only gave up one more run (7th inning).  A STELLAR performance for Joba must give him such confidence.  He is definitely having a good year.  He is in the midst of a good stretch of baseball.  He has pitched relatively well of late, especially last night. 

The offense performed big too.  It took a little to get to Sowers, only getting one run off him.  They had a chance at some more when they chased Sowers from the game with the bases loaded in the sixth.  Greg Aquino came in to try and save the inning.  He did just that.  He got the next three guys out absolutely saving Sowers' behind. 

The Yankees' big inning was the seventh.  Here's a play-by-play recap of the inning. 

• Melky Cabrera grounds out to first base.
• Hideki Matsui pinch hits for Angel Berroa, walks.  Ramiro Pena pinch runs.
• Gardner walks.
• Derek Jeter walks.
• Nick Swisher doubles off left field wall to drive in Pena and Gardner.
• Mark Teixeira intentional walk.
• Luis Viscaino comes in to pitch.
• Alex Rodriguez singles to drive in Jeter and Swish.  Teixeira is thrown out after rounding too far past second.
• Jorge Posada walks.
• Robinson Cano pops out to left field.

This was the big inning in which we scored four of our five runs.  This was the end of the offense so the rest of the game isn't really in need of explanation. 

Overall, the Yankees played great.  The pitching was there, the offense was there, and the defense was there, led by Joba's outstanding diving catch.  Everything was running smoothly and it was a great game to watch. 

The series with the Tribe is over.  We took 3 of 1 from them and it was an overall successful series.  It was an exciting one too.  It was a good thing the bugs didn't show up this time, although the birds definitely did.  In yesterday's game, the whole outfield was covered in them.  There were birds all around the right fielder Shin Soo Choo at one point and at another point they were all around Ben Francisco in center.  It was crazy.

We play the powerful Texas Rangers for a three game series.  It's going to be a crazy one with the heavy hitting Rangers in Yankee Stadium (home run heaven).  I am predicting many balls to leave the yard tonight. 

We've got AJ Burnett going against the inconsistent Vincente Padilla.  He has been inconsistent for most of his career.  Sometimes he has good stuff but other times he is so crazy, you never know what is coming.  Hopefully we can get to him and score big.  We'll definitely need the offense to come up big if AJ can't control the Ranger offense. 

Let's go Yanks!

-Dillon

5/30 vs. Indians:

Old Teammates faced off Saturday.  CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona.  Both have good stuff and both were good friends while CC was in Cleveland.  In the matchup yesterday, CC got the better of the Indians offense and Carmona was unable to stop the Yankee offense.  The Yanks won 10-5. 

CC Sabathia went seven strong innings giving up three runs on five hits (one homer) and three walks.  The homer was hit by Grady Sizemore.  In his outing, CC struck out eight.  He had a terrific game and definitely came up big for us.  While CC was pitching well, the Yankee offense was also performing to a high standard getting to Carmona in the second inning for two runs, and for five in the fourth.  Carmona went the four innings and was pulled after the Yanks had the 7-0 lead.  The game seemed to be in hand for the Yanks but the game wasn't over yet.  The Indians definitely can't be counted out of any game until the final out is recorded. 

In the fifth, the Indians scored two off Sabathia to get the Indian offense started.  It was only two runs but they weren't done yet.  The Tribe also scored one in the sixth on a Grady Sizemore homer and twice in the ninth with a combination of Indian players reaching base.  Shin Soo Choo hit a homer in the ninth to score one of the runs.  The runs in the ninth were off Jose Veras, who continues to struggle BIG TIME!  The Yankees ended up getting the win. 

Top Performers of the Day

CC Sabathia: 7 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 8 K's

Dave Robertson: 1 inning, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 K

Hideki Matsui: 3-5, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 1 run

Derek Jeter: 2-5, 2 RBI, 1 run

Mark Teixeira: 2-5, 2 runs

Robinson Cano: 2-5, 3 RBI, 1 run

Final Verdict

The Yankees, overall, had a good game.  Everyone contributed.  The offense provided CC with good run support that enabled him to go deeper in the game.  Robby Cano continues to tear it up at the plate.  He has been unbelievable for a while now after his slow start (which was expected).  Tex is still a big part of this offense despite not driving in any runs.  He scored two runs in the game.  CC was great.  Robertson was greater.  Veras was TERRIBLE!  Veras needs to fix whatever is wrong and if there is nothing wrong, my advice to the Yankees is this.  Trade him away (if anyone is willing to take him in), or cut him.  Let him loose.  Whatever it takes to make him not a part of this bullpen.  Although Wang didn't pitch yesterday, I still think I should mention how well he pitched the day before.  He was really bad his first outing back but really turned it around for his second outing.  Hopefully he continues to improve and get back to where he was the last two seasons.

5/31 vs. Indians:

It was Carl Pavano, the hated one, against Phil Hughes, the boy wonder.  What I mean by "the hated" is this:  I assume many other Yankee fans other than me absolutely despise Pavano for coming in and costing us so much just to be injured.  Then when he left to the Indians, he all of a sudden was fine and played great.  That's why he is "the hated one."  Now for what I mean by "boy wonder":  I mean exactly what I said.  It's always a wonder what he will do next.  Will he have a good performance, or will he absolutely suck.  Hmm.  Who knows?  It is always a wonder with him because he isn't consistent at all.  I mean, will it kill him to be consistent? 

Well, here's how the game went.  Hughes went five innings of respectable work.  He only gave up four runs on five hits and one walk.  The greatest thing to me about Hughes' performance was his sole walk.  This is great.  Maybe he is reading my blog and knows how much I hate walks.  Maybe he didn't want to get slammed by me and didn't give out any walks.  Who knows?  Well, he did strike out six in the five innings of work and left the game with the Indians ahead 4-0. 

Chien Ming Wang came in to relieve Hughes in the game.  If the game was to end at this point, Hughes would have the loss.  The Indians had the game in hand until Cark Pavano dared to test Mark Teixeira with a fastball over the plate.  Guess what happened.  If you guessed that he destroyed a pitch and it left the yard, you are correct.  This happened with one guy on and cut the lead in half.  It was a whole new ball game.  Now Teixeira wasn't done yet.  In the top of the eighth, after Wang held the Tribe scoreless through the sixth and seventh, Teixeira doubled to drive in Jeter and Damon who had been on base.  The game was now tied and it looked as if the Yanks were going to make another miraculous comeback thanks to the powerful offense.  Unfortunately, that's not what happened. 

After Wang pitched his third scorless inning of the game (bravo to Wang), Phil Coke relieved him to try and keep the Tribe silent.  Coke walked Trevor Crowe to lead off the inning.  Then a sacrifice got Crowe to second and Dave Robertson came in to finish things off.  With one out, Robertson walked Ben Francisco.  Then, still with one out, Robertson gave up a single to Jhonny Peralta who drove in the game winning run as the Tribe walked off with victory. 

Top Performers of the Day:

Chien Ming Wang: 3 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 3 K's

Mark Teixeira: 2-4, 4 RBI, 1 run

Derek Jeter: 2-4, 1 run

Johnny Damon: 2-4, 2 runs

Francisco Cervelli:  A handful of huge stops behind the plate to save a run

Now I forgot to mention that this game was on TBS today so I was able to catch it.  It was another rare case when I got to see the game live.  Well, usually when I do get to see the game, I hope for a good one.  So far this season, I have gotten a mixed record of wins and losses of games I have seen on t.v.  This game was a disapointing loss but I'll shake it off and hope for a win next time.  The game seemed out of hand for the Yanks but when we scored some runs, I felt we may come back and win it.  We did make the comeback but we didn't get all the way so we took the loss and now we are only a half game up on the Red Sox (they beat the Jays 8-2 today). 

We've got the series finale tomorrow with the Tribe.  It's going to be Chamberlain and Jeremy Sowers going at it, a battle of two youngsters with promising stuff.  Yet another good matchup of similar pitchers and it will hopefully end with a Yankee victory. 

Go Yanks!

-Dillon

Well, the Yankees were off on Thursday and there wasn't much to do.  I wrote my daily entry about the night before's game with the Rangers.  And after that, there wasn't much to do related to the Yankees.  Here's some of the things that I did Thursday.

• Went to school
• Played some wiffle ball
• Had an argument over who is better: the Yankees or the Red Sox
• Had another argument on who is better: CC Sabathia or Josh Beckett
• Ate some key lime pie
• Watched the Red Sox game
• Played my guitar
• Went to bed

That's pretty much how my day went without the Yankees.  It wasn't all that boring but the Yankees add sort of a... pizzazz to a person's day don't you think?

Well, I got through my day and eventually it became Friday.  It was set to be an interesting day.  It was the last day of the school week and that's always something to look forward to.  The Seniors at my school got out after a half day while the rest of the school had to stay for the full day.  The Seniors are done with school and that's why they got out early.  The rest of us have three more weeks. 

The day before, the Seniors pulled their Senior Prank.  The people who did it knew a guy who ran a local mini golf and batting cages place.  It had gone out of business and there was still all sorts of obstacles from the mini golf course just sitting in the lot.  They asked if they could have the big elephant from there and he said they could.  They then brought it to the school late at night and somehow got it over the roof and into the courtyard.  They cemented it into the ground so it would be pretty difficult to get out.  That's exactly what happened.  They next day, everyone saw it and the staff got pretty POed.  Over the course of the day, they had guys in the courtyard with a bunch of equipment that was being used to get the elephant out.  It was great. 

That was all happening on Thursday and on Friday, everyone came in to school to find it gone.  But not all was fogotten about "Dumbo" the elephant.  Someone put a cross that said Dumbo on it in the place they had put the elephant the day before.  It was just a funny day and must hae been a funny way to end a high school experience for Seniors. 

When I got home from school that day, I told my mom about the prank.  She had a good laugh.  I then went on with my day doing a lot of different things.  Then I remembered the Yankees were on tonight.  I was pumped because the Yanks were only a half game behind the Red Sox for first.  And the Red Sox and Blue Jays were set to start a series.  The Yanks had the Indians for a few games and all got started last night.  I was pumped.

The Blue Jays got to Tim Wakefield, who started for the Sox, and got him pulled early.  The Jays went on to win 6-3.  The Yankees had Andy Pettitte going against Cliff Lee in their series opener.  In a close game, the Yankees pulled it out 3-1.  They are now the first place team for the first time this season.  I have no intentions of giving it back to the Sox or Jays but it's not up to me, a fan, but it is up to the Yanks and how badly they want to win. 

Breakdown

Pettitte vs. Lee.  A good matchup.  The Yanks have a veteran guy who's been with the team for a while and the Indians have their ace.  This is a great matchup.  Out of the gate, Pettitte had the advantage.  He gave up one run over five innings of work before coming out with back problems.  He gave up the run in the sixth.  Pettitte ended his day giving up six hits and FIVE WALKS.  I can't stop stressing this.  Walks are so unnecessary.  We're just giving them free bases and a free chance to score.  We need to get this under control.  I can see a few walks a game, maybe three at the most, but five is starting to get a little ridiculous. 

Alright, back to the game.  When Pettitte came out, my boy Alfredo Aceves came in to try and shut down the Tribe.  That's what he did.  He's back to being the guy I started to like as a shut down reliever.  He pitched three innings giving up one hit.  ONE HIT!  That's it.  He also had three K's.  He was STELLAR!  Rivera then came in after him to close out the game.  He pitched the ninth giving up one hit and striking out two.  The pitching was great and the offense did their job, scoring more than the Indians.  But it wasn't an absolute domination by the Yankee offense. 

Derek Jeter went 2-5 with an RBI.  Nick Swisher went 1-2 with an RBI and a run.  He also walked once.  Robby Cano went 1-4 with a run scored.  And to top it all off, Big Tex went 1-5 with an RBI.  Those were the top performers from yesterday's game.  The only Yankee not to get a hit was Matsui. 

Overall, the Yankees did their job by winning the game.  The Yanks are now in first in the East and it's looking good.  The pitching is good, the offense is good, despite a relatively slow game for them yesterday, and the Yankees as a team are good.  I'm looking forward to at least another win in this series with the Tribe.  You can't underestimate them though because they have a good team that can surprise you. 

Today we've got CC going up against Fausto Carmona the Indians hard throwing righy.  We need CC to come up big for us today.  The Yanks should be able to take advantage of Carmona's inconsistency but Carmona does have some good stuff including a pretty good fastball.  My prediction:  the Yanks take it 5-2.  CC goes deep into the game.  The Yanks score consistently throughout the game.  We continue to dominate overall and we stay atop the AL East.  That's my prediction.  What's yours?

Go Yanks!

-Dillon

Piece by piece, we have gotten together everything we need to climb the mountain that is the AL East.  We had people on the DL and we have had pitching problems.  We started to come around on the pitching and we started to get some guys from the DL back.  We started out alomst at the bottom and we are now almost at the top.  Right now, we share the top spot in the AL East and it is just fantastic. 

The current standings in the AL East are as follows.

                         W     L     GB

Yankees            27    20      -

Red Sox            27    20      -

Jays                  27    23     1.5

Rays                 23    26     5.0

Orioles              21    26     6.0

We finally have reached the top.  With a Red Sox loss (thanks to the Twins) yesterday and a phenominal game by the Yanks , the Yanks have tied the Sox for tops in the East.

Breakdown

AJ Burnett has been in a huge slump of late.  And it would've been huge for him to break out of it yesterday.  That's exactly what happened.  He went six innings of work giving up only three hits, but four walks though.  Again, the Yankee pitching is giving a lot of walks away and all it is is giving the other team an advantage.  There is no reason to give away free bases.  So back to Burnett.  He did walk four but didn't give up any runs in his performance.  He also struck out seven which showed that he definitely had his stuff.  His pitches were all good and he was putting them where he needed them to be, at least the majority of the time. 

Derek Holland had all sorts of problems after taking the bump for Texas.  He pitched five innings giving up six runs (five earned) on ten hits including two that went yard.  Mark Teixeira hit the first in the first inning and Hideki Matsui hit the first of two on the day in the sixth inning.  Holland struck out and walked two as well in his five inning performance. 

Mark Teixeira continues to hit.  And he doesn't just hit one here and there.  He is hitting everywhere.  He is hitting them out, hitting them for extra bases, and just getting on in clutch spots.  He has been huge since A-Rod came back and he has greatly helped this Yankees club.  He went 2-5 on the day with two RBI's.

Other big performers on the offensive side of things were Derek Jeter who went 3-4 with an RBI.  He also walked twice and scored a run.  Matsui hit two homers on the day and had three RBI's as he went 2-4.  Robby Cano went 2-5 an RBI and two runs scored.  Kevin Cash went 2-5 with two RBI's and a run.  Brett Gardner went 2-4 with a run. 

Johnny Damon was the sole quiet man at the plate for the Yankees in the victory yesterday.  He went 0-5 on the day with three K's.  Tough.  He definitely was having a hard time.  He just didn't have a good day and hopefully he can shake it off.  He started off the season really hot and has helped us stay in the race during the tough start.  The last few games, he has been kind of quiet but I'm sure he'll pop out of it soon.  Everyone has their slumps.

With Burnett's win yesterday, his seven game winless streak is done.  He looks to be back on track and looks like he did to start the season.  Remember when he came up in huge spots twice at the start of the season to stop small skids the Yanks were on.  It was huge for us and it looks like he is pitching the same way he was back then.  He's got his stuff and he just has to take advantage of having it.  He's got to keep working and he'll be great.

The series with the Rangers is over and we get an off day.  This is a good spot for a break day.  Our winning streak was ended earlier this week and we have still played well.  But there were definitely some things that I noticed need work. 

In the loss to the Rangers in the middle of the series, the pitching was dreadful.  It was so bad, I wanted to fly to Texas and pitch myself.  It probably wouldn't have worked out but it was THAT bad.  The pitching should continue to work and will eventually become dominant.  I have no doubt about that.  This club has very good stuff in the starting rotation.  This is obvious.  But believe it or not, the bullpen has some good arms too.  You've got my boy Alfredo Aceves who popped up into my radar over the last week.  Rivera's always gonna be there (at least until he retires).  Dave Robertson looks like he's got some good stuff.  Jose Veras and Phil Coke will eventually become consistently good.  They have been on and off but if they work I'm sure they'll become better.  And guess what.  That first appearance back from the DL for Wang was surely a fluke.  In a good way.  Wang was dominant in his two innings yesterday.  He is definitely ready as a guy in the 'pen and he looked extremely good yesterday.  STELLAR stuff.  Keep it up man!

We come back on Friday to start a weekend series against Cleveland.  Their ace, Cliff Lee, will go up against Andy Pettitte to open the series.  It should be a good matchup.  The offense was there yesterday so hopefully the off day doesn't affect them too much. 

The Yanks look... as smooth as butter.

Go Yanks!

-Dillon

The Yankees lost to the Rangers 7-3...... that sucks!

Joba's injury from getting a fastball back at his knee might have seemed to be fine, but maybe it wasn't.  It seemed like he was going to be fine but maybe he wasn't.  We thought he would continue to pitch well, but maybe he wouldn't.  Maybe I would get a good grade in biology, but I didn't.  Bottom line... Joba had a bad day.  (So did I if any of you were wondering.)

Joba's day was pretty short.  Four innings of work giving up three runs on four hits and four walks (not to mention a Chris Davis blast) wasn't a day I was looking forward to him having.  I was expecting maybe a seven or eight inning effort giving up five hits or less, one walk at the most and one run at the most (not on a homer).  But hey, you can't ask for two absolutely stellar starts in a row from two of your youngest pitchers.  Phil Hughes was great the other day, but Joba was far from great.  By the end of the day, the Rangers had their fun crossing the plate seven times, Rangers' fans got their enjoyment from seeing their team win, and Joba had his fair share of these.

The Yankees definitely had a tough day but not all was bad coming from the Yankees. 

I was watching Sportscenter this morning before heading off to school.  I waited for the Yankees-Rangers replays to come on.  When they did I was hoping they would have pulled out for a win because just a couple minutes earlier I had seen that the Twins took down the Red Sox.  As the replays went on, they showed Joba having a tough time and the Rangers teeing off.  At the end of the replay, they had a box at the bottom of the screen showing the top performers from each team.  I scrolled my eyes down to see if anything good was on the Yankees part of the box and I saw Mark Teixeira's name and his stats for the game.  I didn't know he went yard.  They failed to show that in the replay.  How annoying is that.  It's not like a ton of people went yard and because the Yankees lost they didn't need to show Tex's blast.  That's a load of crap.  They should've shown it because it was an important part of the game.  Tex continues to hit well and should be credited for it in other ways besides on this blog.  Ughhhhh!  Keep it up Tex!

Other than Teixeira, the Yankees offense still played pretty well.  In fact, I would say Teixeira wasn't even the biggest offensive player yesterday.  He only had the one hit for the homer, he left four guys on base, tied for the most of the team, and even struck out once.  He still had a good game.  I mean if you hit a homer I would consider it a good day.  We definitely got on base and had the chance to score.  But either they are afraid of scoring, why would they ever be, or they just weren't having a good day.  I choose- not having a good day.  Jeter went 2-4, Cano went 2-5, and Brett Gardner, after coming in for an injured Melky Cabrera, went 3-5 with a run and a stolen base.  Everyone else had at least one hit other than Nick Swisher, but he walked twice so that makes up for the no hits thing. 

Overall, the Yankees just didn't execute when needed.  They left too many runners on base for my liking, and probably every other Yankee fan out there.  The offense just had a bad day and the Yankees as a team had a bad day.  And the funny thing is... I haven't even talked about that pitching staff.  Hmmmm?

Obviously, as I said before, Joba started and only went four innings giving up three runs.  Joba was relieved by my boy Alfredo Aceves.  And I am now starting to wonder if the first few appearances from Aceves were flukes because the last two performances he has been.... not great.  In his two inning performance, he gave up three runs on four hits.  No walks though.  That I am happy about.  He did strike out a couple so it's not like his day was all bad. 

Aceves was relieved by Phil Coke.  And once again, I'd take a Pepsi over a Coke.  Coke gave up a run on yet anothe homer by Chris Davis.  Can anyone control this guys bat???  Well, obviously Coke can't.  He also walked a guy in his one inning on the mound. 

Dave Robertson relieved Coke for the ninth inning and was the only pitcher to not give up a run.  In fact, he didn't give up anything.  He pitched... I'm gonna say it.... STELLAR!  An inning of perfection.  It was definitely a sight for sore eyes for Yankee fans after suffering through nearly a whole game of bad pitching.  Hopefully Robertson can keep this up.  It definitely couldn't hurt for him to keep it up.  But it would hurt us for him not to keep it up.  So keep it up man!

One more with the Rangers tonight.  We've got AJ Burnett taking the bump for this one.  Yankee fans are desperately (well at least I'm desperate) hoping he can snap this seven game winless streak.  He's going up against a youngster, Derek Holland.  The rookie has a 1-1 record this season.  Hopefully we can get to him and win the series finale.

Here's some good news coming from the Yankees.  Chien Ming Wang.  You guys remember him right.  That righty from Taiwan.  He has had good stuff the last few years.  He totally sucked this season and he went on the DL.  He came back and sucked some more.  So now he's in the bullpen.  You remember him, right. 

Well, he is starting to come along with his bullpen role.  If the team is going to be successful, he will definitely need to be successful back in the 'pen.  They surely need some help back there so hopefully he can provide that help.  We've got good stuff right now in the rotation so having him in the 'pen is good for right now. 

Go Yanks!

-Dillon

Well, the Yanks won again.  11-1.  It was a great game. 

Wow I sound boring!

Let's here it for the Yanks!!!  They won big time blowing out the Rangers!!!  It was awesome baby!!!

That's more like it.

Well, I said it.  The Yanks blew out the Rangers 11-1 thanks to help from all over the team.  A-Rod exploded for five hits, none for homers though.  But hey, this crushes any speculation of him only helping us with the long ball.  Yeah, that's right.  He's an all around fantastic player. 

Phil Hughes pitched an absolute gem.  Eight innings, three hits, six K's.  He did stellar.  By the way, if you haven't figured out by now, stellar is my favorite word when describing the Yankees.  The game yesterday and Hughes' performance definitely deserves the use of stellar.  All right, back on track here.  Hughes gave up no runs on the day and looked absolutely stellar.  He showed stuff that we haven't seen him have since his no hitter way back when.  Hopefully he keeps this up.  This will be huge for us. 

Now here's more on the Yankee offense.  A-Rod led the way going five for five with four RBI's and two runs scored.  His performance also deserves the use of stellar.  Also hitting well for the Yanks was Mark Teixeira who continues his hot streak at the plate.  He went two for four with two RBI's and a walk.  Robinson Cano, Kevin Cash, and Robinson Cano also pitched in with multiple hits each.  Cano had two hits with two RBI's and a run scored, Cash had three hits, and Damon had two hits and scored three times.  Everyone to step up to the plate yesterday had at least one hit.  That looks like something to me.  I looks like everyone is playing well and the entire team is running smoothly.  Smooth as butter. 

Alfredo Aceves... man I can't get enough of this guy.  He has been, may I say it, stellar since coming into this team.  He has become a vital part of this bullpen.  He came in for one inning yesterday to give Mo another day rest.  It looked like we had the shutout in hand going into the inning with my boy Alfredo at the mound.  But Nelson Cruz had other ideas.  Alfredo's first blunder of the season was a solo homer given up to Cruz in the ninth yesterday and the shutout was lost.  Don't worry man, I still think you're the top guy in the 'pen. 

The Yankees' victory was just another great part of my day yesterday.  I came home from my town's annual Memorial Day parade.  I turned on the t.v. and saw the Yankees' score scroll across the bottom of ESPN.  I saw how A-Rod had a great day and Hughes pitched phenominal.  It was even more good news.  Earlier that day, I got a progress report from my school and I saw that I wasn't failing biology.  That was great.  I hate not only my biology teacher, but biology in general.  Also my pool is getting even better looking and it's almost ready to be used for the summer.  There is only four weeks left of school and I'll finally be done with my Freshman year of high school.  Not that it was too bad.  But it's better to be over than starting again. 

Overall, it was a good day in my life.  So I leave you with this question.  How was your day?

P.S.  I just realized Brian Bruney is headed back to the DL.  That's not good news.  But with the team running so well without him, it's better we fix whatever problem he has than have him back when he isn't 100%. 

Bring it on Texas.  We've got Joba tonight.  Look out, here we come. 

-Dillon

Sorry for not being around the last two days.  I have been unable to write about the Yankees' late inning heroics from the Melk-Man and their eleven inning loss yesterday.  So here we go. 

Game 2 vs. Phils

Andy Pettitte vs. JA Happ.  It was going to be a good matchup of middle of the rotation guys.  After the first, the game was scoreless.  The second inning was when everything started.  Both teams scored once in the second.  One of the Phils' runs came on a Raul Ibanez solo homer.  He has seventeen on the year and is just tearing it up for the Phils.  The Phils scored three more in the fifth on a John Mayberry three run shot.  The Phils had the lead throughout the rest of the game.  But then came the bottom of the ninth.  The Melk-Man sturring in the dugout, ready for another chance at heroism.  And he definitely came through.  He ended the rally on an RBI hit that brought in Robby Cano for the winning run.  The Melk-Man comes through again for the Yanks and gives the Yanks the win again.  A three run ninth got the Yanks back on track after being beaten by the Phils for the first time in ten games. 

Pettitte went seven strong giving up the four runs to the Phils.  All the runs came on homers but overall, he pitched well.  He only gave up five hits and two.  Phil Coke also pitched in the game.  He went 1.2 innings giving up only one hit to the Phils as he silenced the strong Philly bats.  Jose Veras pitched only .1 of an inning and got the win as the Yankee offense saved them by winning on the walkoff. 

On the offensive side, Derek Jeter and A-Rod hit their seventh homers on the season.  Jeter's came in the sixth to bring the score to 4-2 Phils.  A-Rod's came in a much more important spot.  He hit a two run shot in the ninth to tie the game.  This led to Melky's walk off hit.  Overall, the offense played relatively well.  It took until the end of the game to get going but it happend and we won the game.

Game 3 vs. Phils

CC Sabthia faced off against Cole Hamels.  A great pitching matchup of the teams' aces.  Both guys had strong games.  Hamels had the advantage through to the ninth.  The Phils had the 3-2 advantage before the Yanks tied the game to go into extras.  In extras, neither team scored until the eleventh when the Phils got one run across.  The Yanks were unable to answer in the bottom of the inning and went down for the 4-3 loss. 

Sabathia went eight strong giving up only three runs on nine hits.  He struck out four in his outing and had an overall good performance.  A little too many hits for my liking but the offense saved him once again and sent the game into extras and gave Sabathia the No Decision. 

The offense wasn't able to come up in extras and the Phils ended the series with the 2-1 win.  The Yanks streak was ended and the Phils continued their good play as defending champs.  Hopefully we can pick things back up when we start a new series with the Texas.  We've got Phil Hughes going today in a matinee.  Hopefully everything will continue running as it has been during the streak.  Lets pick it up guys. 

We're currently in third place.  We're only a game out of first which the Red Sox currently occupy.  The Jays are a half game back and are still playing strong

Go Yanks!

-Dillon